Saturday, July 9, 2016

A Good Morning on Webb Cove

Before we set-out, we took a Scorpio down from the rack and
W, my morning student sat down in it to adjust the foot pegs. I could see
almost right away, from the way he rocked the boat back and forth with his
hips, but kept his upper body vertical, that he would do well. He had the basic
concept of edging already figured-out… perhaps not the nuances, like which way
to edge to point the boat in a particular direction, but we could work on that
over the next few hours. This was his first time in a sea kayak, and before he
even launched, he had a basic concept down that eludes far more experienced
paddlers.

It was a good day for a lesson: strong gusty winds and fog
that made the inner reaches of Webb Cove at high tide into a calm, sheltered
classroom- with mud-warmed, shallow water significantly warmer than the water
just a half-mile out. Not only that, but the fog has a way of slowing one down.
W had some difficulties at first – everyone does, but slowing down, contour
paddling along the curving granite shoreline, sorted them out. After a few
hours of strokes and exercises to try them out, he was maneuvering his boat
amazingly well. We finished with a rescue session, and to be honest, I was
enjoying it so much myself that I hardly wanted to stop. And W’s enthusiasm was
infectious; it helped carry me through the rest of the day.

After the first week of July, I’m feeling a bit beat-up,
having taught or guided multiple trips almost every day for awhile now. Unless the sun comes
out today, I will probably have the rest of the day off… a valuable chance to
do a few home improvements on the travel trailer. I’m tired, but overall things
have been good. I had one day that, at the end of it I said that if every day
were like that I wouldn’t be doing this work, but then I had several days of
decent enough weather (not too much wind) and easy-going people who I enjoyed
being with and were able to paddle well enough to manage.

We’ve tried to avoid working in the office this year, opting
to clean the bathhouse instead (we all have to do our part around here). And
while it might seem to be dirty work (and it sometimes is) I prefer it to the
headache of dealing with whatever comes at you in the office. In particular, I
really hate renting kayaks. I could write a whole diatribe on it, but I’d
rather keep my blood pressure down. At the heart of it is that very few people
who want to rent kayaks are even remotely prepared. On some level it’s our job to
try to screen them, but most people are indignant if you suggest that they
might not fare well in 55-degree water if they can’t get back into their boats.
Especially if it looks calm out. They might suspect that we just want to sell
them on guided trips… but if the people seem difficult, that is far from the truth.
We just don’t want them to have a bad day, and we worry about them until they
return. Like the day that started-out calm a couple of weeks ago- the day two people (one a guide, the other a client) died not far from here, an accident
that I’m choosing to avoid writing about, because it is still so similar to
almost all kayaking mishaps that should have been avoided. I’m just not going
there, at least today.

Instead, I’ve decided to tell you about W’s first hours in a
kayak, how in four hours he went from no kayaking skills at all to experiencing
a certain joy in maneuvering his boat, and the ability to rescue himself or
others. He will get so much more out of kayaking and be safer than the larger
percentage of paddlers out there. And that makes me happy.

In other news, it looks like the Swans Island Journey may be moved a few days later, perhaps to the next week, probably with one or two more openings for students. And the Downeast Journey has one or two openings as well. My daily schedule here at Old Quarry has been busy, but I've been able to accommodate anyone who wants a lesson. Contact Old Quarry Ocean Adventures at 207/367-8977.